In the art of magnetic resonance examination, the susceptibility of magnetic resonance signals intended to be acquired to electromagnetic interference, which may be caused by operation of electronic devices in the vicinity of the magnetic resonance examination system, is known to be a constant challenge.
In an effort to reduce potential radio frequency interference it has been proposed to partially replace electronic devices by optical devices, particularly for data acquisition.
By way of example, international application WO 2006/008665 describes a magnetic resonance imaging system including a local coil assembly which is disposed in an examination region electrically isolated from the scanner. The coil assembly includes a plurality of coils each with an electronics module. The received resonance signals that are digitized by an analog-to-digital converter clocked by timing signals received optically from a scan controller. The digital resonance signals are converted into optical signals. The optical signals from each of the plurality of coil modules are communicated to a corresponding optical receiver/transmitter located on the scanner which converts the optical signals to electrical signals for transmission to a reconstruction processor, and the electrical signals from the scan controller to optical control and timing signals for transmission to the corresponding coil module.